Music licensing: what, how and why is important to your business
Music licenses commonly refer to ‘royalty-free music’ or ‘production music’. This is music that has been written and produced for the sole purpose of being used in another project. Anyone can then license this music for a fee, to use in their project.
What about commercial music?
Commercial music, written and performed by artists such as Adele, M83 and U2, for example, may not be used for any purpose other than personal/private performance. When you buy a CD or download an MP3, it specifically states that you can’t do anything with that song or music track except listen to it yourself. Any commercial use is prohibited, including playing it on the radio for clients in a hair salon.
To play commercial music to the public, a public performance license from the appropriate performing rights organization in that country is required. In the UK it may be PRS or PPL. In the US/Canada, this can be either BMI or ASCAP. These organizations charge a fee to the business owner, based on the size of their business/location. This can be expensive and time consuming just to play the radio for their customers at their premises, but it allows the business to play the radio for their customers without any legal issues.
This is not a suitable solution for video production and film making, as the use and purpose of the music are not the same. As many video production companies produce content for clients, they need background music for their video/film that is licensed for its intended purpose. When licensing commercial music, arranging such a license for online, public, in-store, and mass distribution performance quickly becomes expensive and complicated.
Royalty Free Music Licensing offers a simple and cost-effective solution to acquire well-produced music with all the necessary rights for the customer, within an affordable and transparent license.
Who needs to license the music?
Anyone who creates digital content with the intent to post it online or publicly. It’s really that simple. You can’t legally use music that you haven’t written yourself or licensed from a music library.
What about ‘home movies’ and ‘personal projects’?
The same rules apply to home movies and personal projects, but because these are produced non-profit or professionally on behalf of a client, it is possible to use commercial music in this type of content. However, when this content is posted on social platforms like Facebook and YouTube, your video may be blocked in certain countries or removed entirely. This is because commercial artists and record labels have an agreement in place that oversees the use of their content on these platforms and can enforce accordingly. However, there are many commercial artists and record labels that allow the use of their music in exchange for publicity. An ad will be attached to your content as a pre-roll, overlay, or mid-time break during the video in exchange for permission to use your music track. If you’re producing something personal, ‘for fun’, then this shouldn’t be a problem.
The risks of using commercial music in professional video
A client may want to see the latest chart-topping hit in their video because it resonates with their target audience or they feel it represents their brand. However, as stated above, this could end up being immediately blocked or removed with other implications such as account suspension. If the video is not blocked or removed, it will be displayed with ads.
This is the last thing you want for your client. You produced a video promoting your new product, and before the video begins, viewers are shown ads for competing brands and products. It degrades the potential of the video and the brand.
Why license RIGHTS FREE MUSIC?
There are THREE key reasons why the correct music licenses are very important.
1. You are using music that will NOT be subject to copyright claims, blocking or removal when posted online. This means that you can deliver your final product to your client without fear of any music related issues.
2. You can MONETIZE the content you produce. If you are producing the content for your own online channel on YouTube, you will no doubt be entering the partner program to earn money from the ads that are shown in your videos. You cannot make money from these ads if the music is not licensed as it will go directly to the artist/producer of the music. Pay music license, earn money from that music license. Simple.
3. Create an identity for your video. Whether you are producing something on behalf of a client or for yourself. If you use a very popular and well-known commercial music track, that song is likely to resonate more with the viewer than your content. However, if you create really great video content AND license the perfect music track that no one has ever heard before, you’re offering a completely unique audiovisual package that’s fresh and new.
What about free music?
If you search for it, you will find music that is available to use for free. But ask yourself, why is it free?
Free in exchange for ads and revenue.
The creator could be giving you permission to use their music in exchange for online ad revenue via YouTube and Facebook, and you won’t know it until you post it and get notified. Ads will be shown along with your video, and all proceeds will go to the artist.
A poor quality sample.
The free music track you’re using could be a low-quality sample of something an artist is trying to sell. This might be a low 128kb MP3 that looks adequate, but when played with high quality content it will sound low, muted, and generally not that great. When music is licensed from a library, it must be available in 320 kbps WAV or MP3 streaming quality as standard.
Who else is using it?
You won’t be the only one looking for free music. People who create content purely for personal projects don’t have a budget for music licensing, so they need something for free. If you’re producing a project for a paying client, would he be happy if you used the same free music track as everyone else? If it’s free, chances are a lot of people will use it.
Liquidation and Insurance
Anyone can upload a music track online. There is no vetting, no quality control, and no legal guarantee. Any blog or digital content platform can host a music track for others to share. So when you’re downloading a ‘free music track’, how do you know the provider actually has the rights to give it to you? When you license a music track from a professionally curated library, you’re assured that each music track has been legally reviewed, licensed, and published for you to license and use.
Why pay for music?
There are thousands of music tracks online. What is the difference between ‘Track A’ and ‘Track B’? As a video producer/filmmaker, ask yourself this question: “There are thousands of video cameras out there. iPhones can record 4K video and you can plug a microphone into it. Why should a company hire me to record their video?”
When you license music from an accredited library, you are paying for the expertise in writing and composing the music track. From the beginning, middle and end. The quality of the instruments used. Dynamic audio production, builds and crescendos. Mastering and post production edits so that a 3 minute piece can be condensed into a short 30 second edit without losing any of the magic of the music track.
The difference you get when someone shoots a corporate video on their iPhone compared to someone shooting the same video with a professional camera, lighting, and staging is painfully obvious. It is no different when it comes to music or photography. There is the technology, the knowledge, the skill and the ability to combine them to achieve a result of the highest quality.
What can I do with the licensed music?
Whatever you want. Music can be licensed for limited use or global distribution, mass production, and streaming. You can license music for a specific purpose and adapt it to suit any additional requirements at any time.
Royalty Free Music Licensing is intended to be the most cost-effective and convenient solution for using music in your professional projects. General online distribution is commonly a one-time license fee per track for lifetime use.